Page 408 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 27 June 1989
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Australia and whether there were there any proposals to upgrade the ACT Ambulance Service.
Mr Speaker, the ACT Ambulance Service operates a fleet of 14 ambulances, and they are utilised as follows: 10 fully equipped ambulances; three operational support vehicles; and one clinic patient minibus. There are four fully manned and equipped ambulances on duty at any time throughout each 24-hour, seven-day period.
To assist in meeting peak needs, the Ambulance Service is able to bring additional staff on duty on a recall basis and also to receive assistance from the New South Wales Ambulance Service stationed at Queanbeyan, which of course is only minutes away. Those strategies are rarely necessary and the service usually relies on the four fully manned ambulances over the 24-hour period.
In April 1989 there was a quality assurance review of the capacity of the service to effectively resuscitate and transport collapsed heart attack victims and it identified that the Ambulance Service's overall mean response time to assist these urgent cases was 8.2 minutes. This performance is better than the Australian metropolitan ambulance response standard, which is set at 10 minutes.
On those occasions when the Ambulance Service experiences a period of short-term excessive demand, it has well-developed procedures for classification of cases which ensure that the most serious cases are dealt with as a priority. It is neither physically nor economically possible for the Ambulance Service to guarantee a response time below 8.2 minutes to every emergency patient in every circumstance. However, the capacity of the Ambulance Service to respond promptly to demand is constantly monitored to ensure that its excellent record is maintained. There are no proposals to upgrade the Ambulance Service as it is considered to be already of a high standard.
HOURS OF MEETING
Motion (by Mr Whalan) agreed to:
That the Assembly, at its rising, adjourn until tomorrow at 10.30 am.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY BILL 1989 -
SELECT COMMITTEE
Motion (by Mr Whalan), by leave, agreed to:
That paragraph (2) of the resolution of appointment of the Select Committee on the Occupational Health and
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